This blog focuses on news and information regarding practice in the federal courts in the Eastern District of California, with a special emphasis on criminal and civil rights cases.

Blog Author

John Balazs is an attorney in Sacramento, California, specializing in criminal defense, including appeals, habeas corpus, pardons, expungements, and civil forfeiture actions. After graduating from UCLA Law School in 1989, he clerked for Judge Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. John was an Assistant Federal Defender in Fresno and Sacramento from 1992-2001. He currently serves as an adjunct professor in clinical trial advocacy at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. Please email EDCA items of interest to Balazslaw@gmail.com. Follow me on twitter @balazslaw.

Disclaimer

This blog is for informational purposes only. Nothing in this blog should be construed as legal advice. The law can change rapidly and information in this blog can become outdated. Do your own research or consult with an attorney.

November 20, 2010

Feds Charge Four With Manufacturing False Immigration Documents

Homeland Security agents and California DMV investigators have arrested four Sacramento-area men on charges of making and selling thousands of phony identification cards to undocumented immigrants. For $120, you could buy a phony green card, Social Security card or a California driver's license on the streets of south Sacramento, investigators said. You could buy a set of all three for $250.

The suspects – undocumented immigrants with multiple identities – allegedly ran high-tech document mills out of their residences and the trunks of their cars.

* * *

According to the federal criminal complaint, one of the suspects, Javier Hernandez-Lopez, met an undercover agent at the parking lot of the Hacienda market on Franklin Boulevard and offered to set him up with his own counterfeiting franchise for $20,000.

* * *

Also in the Sacramento County jail on charges of document fraud are Juan Hernandez-Lopez, 33, Javier's younger brother, who had been deported in 2003; Luis Eduardo Torres-Hernandez, 25, and Alejandro Bielma-Ortiz, 40. All four men were arrested Thursday and charged with manufacturing false identity and immigration documents. The maximum penalty is 15 years in prison for each count.

Comments

Feds Charge Four With Manufacturing False Immigration Documents

Homeland Security agents and California DMV investigators have arrested four Sacramento-area men on charges of making and selling thousands of phony identification cards to undocumented immigrants. For $120, you could buy a phony green card, Social Security card or a California driver's license on the streets of south Sacramento, investigators said. You could buy a set of all three for $250.

The suspects – undocumented immigrants with multiple identities – allegedly ran high-tech document mills out of their residences and the trunks of their cars.

* * *

According to the federal criminal complaint, one of the suspects, Javier Hernandez-Lopez, met an undercover agent at the parking lot of the Hacienda market on Franklin Boulevard and offered to set him up with his own counterfeiting franchise for $20,000.

* * *

Also in the Sacramento County jail on charges of document fraud are Juan Hernandez-Lopez, 33, Javier's younger brother, who had been deported in 2003; Luis Eduardo Torres-Hernandez, 25, and Alejandro Bielma-Ortiz, 40. All four men were arrested Thursday and charged with manufacturing false identity and immigration documents. The maximum penalty is 15 years in prison for each count.